Kiatisak blasts FAT, critics

Thailand’s former national football coachr Kiatisuk Senamuang answers questions during a press conference in Bangkok last year ahead of a AFC Suzuki Cup match. Photo: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP

Kiatisak, 43, announced his resignation as national team coach last Friday (Mar 31) after his men were hammered 3-0 at home by Saudi Arabia and thrashed 4-0 by Japan in Saitama in World Cup qualifiers.

The results were described by FAT president Somyot Poompunmuang as “embarrassing”.

With the losses, Thailand remain bottom of Group B in Asia’s final qualifying stage for the 2018 World Cup and are already out of contention with three games left.

“I quit as coach of the Thai national team on March 31 for the FAT to move forward. I apologise that I could not take Thailand to the World Cup in one year,” he said in his first interview since his departure.

“The target is too high. It is difficult to reach the target so I quit to open way for another person to do the job. There are wins, losses and draws in sports. We cannot always win. We lost matches but won fans’ hearts. It is the FAT president and its executive board who passed judgement on me.

“We may forget who we are. Everybody wants to play at the World Cup finals but we have to know ourselves. When we lose, it is not that everybody can scold at us.”

He added: “I was a national player for 15 years and national coach for five years for a total of 20 years and I had never thought about quitting. But I can’t accept this [criticism] and I think I have made the right decision.”

Kiatisak guided the Kingdom to two Suzuki Cup titles and one SEA Games gold medal, although some critics said he was only good at the Southeast Asian level and was out of his depth on the higher stage.

“These days, winning the SEA Games and Suzuki Cup is not easy. There will be the SEA Games in Malaysia in August and we should wait and see if Thailand can win the title,” he said.

He criticised the FAT for not investing in football development and said a large number of the current national team’s players were developed by previous FAT president Worawi Makudi, who first appointed him as coach of the U23 side in 2013.

“I have told the FAT president [Somyot] to develop young players but I don’t know what he has done,” Kiatisak said.

He said he would take a coaching course and would return to football.

Meanwhile, FAT president Somyot on Tuesday signed a contract with Ekkono Method Soccer Services for the Spanish firm to help groom young Thai players with the ultimate aim of steering Thailand to the 2026 World Cup.